Christ, the one foundation.

Romans 15:20 And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation; Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gives us more insight into Paul’s ministry philosophy than what we have here in Rom. 15:20. He wrote, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). Paul’s mission was to go where no one else had preached Christ before him so that he could be sure that the foundation that was established was Jesus Christ, and not some fleshly, man-centered, man-made religion. It’s very difficult to preach the gospel where someone has already preached. If the previous men didn’t lay the foundation of the life of Jesus Christ, then people will think they must live the Christian life. They won’t build on Jesus as the foundation, they will build on themselves. The truth is, one can’t build on the foundation of self-accomplishment. The building will crumble and collapse. It certainly won’t be able to stand the fire of God’s judgment of which Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 3. Let us be encouraged in our living to love with Jesus, that we really get this in our hearts and minds. Jesus is the foundation of our lives and ministries. We live out of His truth, His purpose, His worldview, His presence, and His Spirit. What flows through us is His love and wisdom. Unfortunately, there are very few places that we will go today where the name of Jesus hasn’t already been named. He’s already been defined. It’s important for us to preach in, boast in, and love in Christ. Let’s make sure we are not building on another man’s foundation, but on the one and only foundation, which is Jesus Christ. He is our life!